Abstract
The evaluation of MAC protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is often performed through simulation. These simulations necessarily abstract away from reality inmany ways. However, the impact of these abstractions on the results of the simulations has received only limited attention. Moreover, many studies on the accuracy of simulation have studied either the physical layer and per link effects or routing protocol effects. To the best of our knowledge, no other work has focused on the study of the simulation abstractions with respect to MAC protocol performance. In this paper, we present the results of an experimental study of two often used abstractions in the simulation of WSN MAC protocols.We show that a simple SNR-based reception model can provide quite accurate results for metrics commonly used to evaluate MAC protocols. Furthermore, we provide an analysis of what the main sources of deviation are and thereby how the simulations can be improved to provide even better results.
Highlights
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are networks of small cheap autonomous battery-powered sensor nodes
First we evaluate the binary reception model that is used in the Unit Disk Graph (UDG) model
We have presented the results of an experimental study of two often used reception models in the simulation of WSN MAC protocols, namely, the binary reception model and the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) model
Summary
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are networks of small cheap autonomous battery-powered sensor nodes. To evaluate a MAC protocol for a WSN it is required that one performs several experiments with different representative topologies. These experiments should ideally be repeated several times to obtain statistically relevant results. Limited work has been done to validate the abstractions commonly used in simulators for WSN MAC protocols evaluation. We focus on the performance metrics commonly used in evaluating MAC protocols These are packet delivery ratio (a.k.a. packet reception rate or goodput), and energy consumption which is usually derived from the time spent in different radio states.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
